Top 5 Reasons Not to Own an iPhone

Top 5 Reasons Not to Own an iPhone

Apple has done a great job telling the world about their iPhone. The advertising has worked and the iPhone is one of the hottest cell phones to own. For those interested in keeping up with the Jones' the iPhone is a must have item this year and probably next year too. The question is does the Apple iPhone live up to the hype. Is the iPhone really worth top dollar? What do the users say? Here are the top 5 reasons not to own an iPhone.

The first reason is the price. This is a very expensive cell phone. The average price for an iPhone is between $500 - $600. That is a lot of money for a phone. At this price it is really a luxury item as there are phones that offer similar features for a lot less money. For internet and email capabilities you can get a Blackberry or Motorola Q for a lot less than an iPhone. If you are looking for touch screens and music, there are hundreds of phones that will suit these requirements without having to shell out so much money. Although the iPhone's advertising is geared toward teens and young adults, does a teenager really need a $500 cell phone? This is the fist reason in our Top 5 reasons not to own an iPhone: Price.

Reason number two in the top 5 reasons not to own an iPhone, the battery. Did you know that you cannot replace the battery in your iPhone? If that battery dies, you are out of luck. Apple decided that soldering the battery to the unit was preferable to offering a proprietary battery or any standard cell phone battery. This way when your battery dies, and without a doubt it will in under two years, you have to get a new iPhone. Apparently many users did not realize this as Apple made no effort to make this common knowledge. Now they are in litigation over the battery issue. Therefore, if you are considering buying an iPhone be sure to get a warranty that covers the battery if you can. Otherwise you will be paying for another phone within 24 months which is the average life of a cell phone style battery.

Reason three: Internet access. Although the iPhone is touted as having amazing internet capabilities, there are many shortcomings to its browser. The browsers search capabilities are severely lacking. This makes finding what you want on the internet difficult and time consuming. The other feature the browser lacks is the ability to store passwords. This may have been done as a security measure as cell phones are not as secure as a laptop, PC or Mac. However, keeping track of a lot of passwords is difficult. Internet searching and browser issues is our third reason.

Reason four not to own an iPhone is memory. You can purchase a 6 GB, an 8 GB, or a 16 GB  iPhone. When you use up all of your available space on the iPhone, you must delete or back off content to another device like your PC or Mac. Many iPhone proponents claim that this storage capacity removes the need for a separate MP3 player, such as an iPod, therefore saving you money. In reality, teens can download 16 GB of music and video in an amazingly short amount of time. This leaves no memory for other applications or photos. You will still need a separate MP3 player so there are no real savings to be had here. There is no ability to upgrade the memory via a memory card or flash drive. This is another area where the iPhone is lacking.

Finally, reason number five in our top 5 reasons not to own an iPhone is the service provider. You are limited to AT&T's cell phone service packages for the iPhone if you wish to use it. These packages are expensive as they all include data and internet. AT&T has no incentive to change their iPhone service pricing because they have exclusive rights to provide service to the iPhones. This has led to a great number of hacked iPhones on the market that can be used on other networks. As long as Apple and AT&T's agreement stays exclusive, you will have hackers.

Overall, the iPhone is an overpriced, over hyped, cell phone. These top 5 reasons not to own an iPhone are valid and you should consider this before you buy one.